Shapeshift

Shapeshift 2019: Bauhaus in Chicago

IIT Institute of Design and IIT College of Architecture will launch the inaugural Shapeshift design festival September 16–28, 2019. Over two weeks of programming, we will demonstrate and discuss design’s role as a catalyst for meaningful change in Chicago yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Bauhaus master László Moholy-Nagy founded ID as the New Bauhaus in 1937. A year later, former Bauhaus director Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became head of architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology, making the university a global center of modernism in the mid-twentieth century. Amidst worldwide celebrations of the Bauhaus centennial in 2019, Shapeshift willhonor the remarkable Bauhaus legacy created in Chicago by ID and the College of Architecture.

Just as Chicago and Illinois Tech played leading roles in the development of twentieth-century modernism, the city and the university are together at the forefront of reimagining the lived and built urban environment for the twenty-first century. Working with Chicago communities, ID and the College of Architecture address our city’s key challenges with more equitable and sustainable solutions, and invent new approaches to urban living.

The apex of Shapeshift programming, Bauhaus Live, will take place on Saturday, September, 21 from 10 a.m.–7 p.m. Hear Jan Tichy’s discussion of his exhibition of Bauhäusler palm prints (Future/Past), watch the Bauhaus-inspired ballet Futura Fractals, take a tour of the Mies Campus and view The Mies Project, observe artifacts from The New Bauhaus (An American Bauhaus), and enjoy a reception with refreshments.

Exhibition

Future/Past: Crossing Lines

At the intersection of technology and spirituality, Jan Tichy’s exhibition and community exploration of palm prints created in spring 1926 in Dessau by László Moholy-Nagy and other Bauhäusler are on view in the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed Carr Chapel.

Creative Activism Now: The Need for Courage in the Age of Choices

September 16, 2 p.m.S. R. Crown Hall, 3360 South State Street

Tom Jacobs, a partner at Krueck + Sexton Architects and adjunct professor at the College of Architecture, will discuss the climate crisis as an opportunity for creative professionals to become the transformational leaders we urgently need to drive change.

Discussion

exploreID: Building Cooperative Futures

September 17, 6 p.m.Urban Juncture, 5061 South Prairie Avenue

Through exploreID, students, community members, and partners explore design at ID through different lenses and projects. At ID, we activate new ways for communities to build understanding. In this event, we’ll share how we move from ideas to action.

The MIES Project

With the legendary Leica M rangefinder camera, Arina Dähnick captures the soul of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s architecture without image manipulation. Read more about the photographer and the exhibition.

100 Years of Bauhaus | Unconventional Bauhaus

The Bauhaus’s foundational artists were often motivated by unconventional and radical subject matter. This panel, moderated by ID faculty member Laura Forlano (Bauhaus Futures, MIT Press), provides context into the ways in which their inspirations are reimagined in the twenty-first century. Presented in partnership with Expo Chicago.

Mies Campus Tours

September 20–22, 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Explore the world’s only Mies-designed campus (which comprises the nation’s first functional microgrid, reflecting Illinois Tech’s pioneering work in electricity delivery and infrastructure), ending with tours of The Mies Project led by photo artist Arina Dähnick at Noon and 3 p.m.

Bauhaus Ballet

September 21, 5–7 p.m.Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship, 3137 South Federal Street

Enjoy a performance of the Bauhaus-inspired ballet Futura Fractals by ID students and Hedwig Dances a week after their event at Dessau, then view An American Bauhaus to learn about ID’s history. Reception with light refreshments will follow.

African-American Architecture Trolley Tour

September 22, 1–4 p.m.Explore notable Chicago architecture designed by prominent African-American architects on a 90-minute trolley tour narrated by College of Architecture Professor Michelangelo Sabatino.